


Radiance

by Xireyna



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Earthborn, M/M, SLOW AF, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, Symbol, War Hero Shepard, glow - Freeform, like very slow, slower than molasses, soul mates, soulmate, war hero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:06:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4569084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xireyna/pseuds/Xireyna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The faint glow coming from Alenko's wristband intrigued all of the crew. Not because of the glow itself, but because of why he hid his mark. Everyone knew that once you found your mate that the mark would cease to glow, and he clearly didn't like the glowing aspect.</p><p>M!Shenko soulmates fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction.

**Author's Note:**

> Refer to the end.

Humans were the lucky ones out of all of the races in the world. They had a guide, so to speak, that gave them hints as to who their soulmate was. The bonded pair would know each other by the matching symbols placed where ever on their body (most often in a visible place), especially considering nobody else within the world would have the same tattoo, in the same color, in the exact same location as another person. It would appear when the younger one of the pair turned eighteen, and the closer one was to their soulmate, the fiercer the symbols glow was. The glow would eventually dissipate once the bond was acknowledged by both parties, and in its place, the symbols colors would become twice as intense as before. Some people go as far as to say that they knew their soulmate instantly because of the radiant light shimmering around them, but that's rather rare.

In the case of Kaidan Alenko, it appeared on his wrist when he was 20 in a blaze of pain that lasted as quickly as it came. It was rather unexpected, but thankfully it hit him when everyone was asleep and meant to be in their bunks instead of during a mission. Regardless, he still hid his mark behind a sleek silver cuff. The chances of them being in the Alliance as well was slim to none and he would rather them be without him than be hurt when- no, if, he got hurt or killed in the line of duty.

In the case of John Shepard, it appeared the moment he'd turned 18, and he took that as a sign to get the hell out of the Reds and into the Alliance, in hopes that when he met his soulmate, whoever it was, that he was a more respectable person than he was then. Nobody knew what caused the change of heart, and John wasn't going to tell anyone who didn't need to know. However, he still bared the mark to anyone and everyone in hopes that his soul mate would know who he was, and remained proud of the mark, even if it refused to glow.

As fate would have it, they would be brought together, both of them proud Alliance soldiers that would be assigned to the same ship, the Normandy SR1.


	2. knowledge.

The amount of rumors going around the ship about the new XO of the Normandy was simply astonishing. Talk was sure to happen, considering that it always did. It seemed to be a rule that gossip needed to happen at least one a day, especially on this ship, but this time it was simply out of control. The heroics attached to a single name, Shepard, simply seemed impossible. It would be difficult for them to be completed by only one person and the time frame simply didn't work out. Various rumors placed the new XO at around twenty, twenty-three, but Kaidan doubted that even more than the accomplishments said to have been completed by the man meant to be the XO. At that young of an age, he would be lucky to even be assigned to the Normandy, nearly godlike to have completed all of these insane tasks.

Only a last name was given, and no other information, which was part of the reason that Kaidan doubted the rumors circulating around. Anderson had a point of not saying much, if anything, about the officers that came onto the ship, instead allowing them to prove themselves to the crew. Some of the members on the ship wouldn't respect someone until they showed why they were to be respected, and it seemed this would not be the exception.

However, today was the day that the mystery XO would officially come onto the ship for the first time and meet the crew, which could easily be why the gossip was more than twice as bad in the past few hours alone than in the past week since it was announced. The XO had somehow gone from being a larger than life soldier who had single handedly repelled an attack by batarian slavers on Elysium to a man who managed to blow up a planet, which couldn't be true. There was absolutely no documentation of any planets being blown up in the last ten years, and in the case that a planet had actually been blown to tiny pieces, the media would have attacked the person like a lion attacking a carcass of a dead animal. They would have had no mercy, and Kaidan was sure to have heard of it, the same of everyone else. Since, however, not a single soul on the ship had heard of a damned planet blowing up, that rumor was thrown aside and as such, whoever repeated it in seriousness lost credibility near instantly.

It was almost amusing how many people actually believed the rumors, and if not for the fact that this damned monitor wouldn't stop giving him trouble, he'd be with the others, meeting the new XO in less than five minutes. He'd have loved to see their expectations smashed before their eyes, because half of the ridiculous rumors were bound to come up as a question that would then be shot down or disproved with a confused expression. It almost brought a smirk to his face thinking about the immense disappointment some of the crew would feel, because they'd all known that with Anderson, you ought to never speculate about the activies or the physical appearance of anyone coming onto the ship, unless you got off on disappointing yourself.

Kaidan didn't, and so he kept to himself, hid the damned curse on his wrist and refused to believe a single rumor that sounded like it could be fake. 

Sparks fly out of the side of the monitor and shock him, the electrical current making its way up to his amp, rattling it. With a frustrated growl, he's tempted to drive the screwdriver through the screen and space the monitor, but regulations stop him from doing so. He didn't want to pay for a new monitor because he biotically shredded this one into tiny metallic pieces. His left hand starts to glow blue from frustration as it clenches into a fist, ready to smash into the monitor if it didn't just let him fix it.

"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" the voice comes from behind him, and he whips around in a hurry, scrambling to his feet, snapping to a salute. The salute is crisp and clean, just like it always has been, just like it will always be. His hand falls down to his side.

He shakes his head hurriedly, "No, sir," he replies, and he doesn't stutter. The commander looks amused, but doesn't say anything of it, and doesn't comment on the fact that he'd walked in on a crew-member almost biotically punching through the screen of a monitor. Kaidan gulps, and his throat begins to feel dry and scratchy. There's a slight burning feeling on his wrist that beings to rapidly intensify in feeling. Kaidan can't hold back the moderate hiss of pain that escape and instinctively shoves his hand behind his back to hide his wrist as well as the shimmer surrounding the silver cuff, and the gesture does not go unnoticed by Anderson. Kaidan feels like that's relief on his CO's face, but he's too worried 

Anderson seems to know what's happening before Kaidan does, but once more, refuses to comment. "Shepard, over here! There's another one you need to meet." In response, a faint groan is heard, and Kaidan realizes that he's about to meet his new XO, and he's not sure how to feel right now, especially considering his mark is going haywire and that he nearly punched a monitor because it shocked him.

The world seems to slow for a few moments when he finally lays eyes on his rapidly approaching XO, and the light radiating out from the man is almost blinding, but he can't help but stare. He can't look away; Kaidan feels like it'd physically pain himself to do so, and it would; looking at him makes the mark burn less. The man has eyes so blue that it reminds him of the sea when he was a child, and he almost gets lost in them. The pale, rose-petal pink lips draw him in and refuse to let him go.

The man is not pretty. He is not beautiful in the typical sense, but Kaidan is hopelessly attracted to him. The strong and angular features make him a different breed of handsome, and Kaidan knows this is his soulmate, and he now knows he has to keep it a secret.

"Lieutenant!" his CO says, and it seems that he's said it multiple times judging by the slight annoyance in his tone. He snaps his gaze back to his CO and hurriedly apologizes. He can't make a bad impression on the first day, especially considering the new-found information. 

Kaidan looks back towards the man and salutes again, but it's met with a scoff and his new XO rolls his eyes. He holds out a hand to shake, and Kaidan can clearly see the mark on his wrist. It's the exact same as his, but it isn't glowing. "John Shepard. I'm your new XO, obviously," he says it and grins, but it's a blatantly fake smile. Kaidan purses his lips and attempts to smile back, then holds out his other hand, causing the man to draw back his own and reach out with the other one. He takes note of the confused frown that quickly turns to annoyance. What may be the most awkward handshake in the world occurs, and Kaidan hurriedly draws back his hand after a few moments, not letting it go on any longer than necessary. He has to get out before he draws any attention to the mark.

"It'll be a pleasure to serve under you, sir," he says, "But I should really go to the med-bay. The monitor shocked me and it rattled my amp," he lies, and he's gone from the room, feeling an intense need to be anywhere but there. His anxiety is starting to kick in, and he'd really rather be far away from his XO than close enough for him to see the glow in the shape of his mark coming through the silver cuff on his wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty excited! First actual chapter of this installment. Let's go :) remember to leave a comment, tell me if I messed up on something, and/or what you liked about the chapter!  
> 


	3. confusion.

Weeks had passed since Shepard had first gotten onto the ship, and it was sufficient enough to say that with him on board, things had gotten much more intense and action packed. Between Eden Prime and the beacon, Shepard becoming the first human Spectre and then CO of the ship, the thorian on Feros, the killing of an asari matriarch on Noveria (which was colder than Canada and by far worse), and the recruitment of an asari scientist by the name of Liara who unrelentlessly flirted with Shepard, Kaidan had seen more action in those past few weeks than perhaps in his whole lifetime.

The Normandy had also seen the recruitment of far more than just Liara, but hers seemed to be the only one that bothered him. Perhaps it was because instinct dictated that nobody but him ought to be talking to his soulmate in the way that she did, or that she kept attempting to steal glances at his wrist, how the mark glowed through the silver cuff on his wrist. Either way, he felt somewhat threatened by her, and more than just Ashley had picked up on it, but it was only her who would comment about it towards him.

“Come on, LT. We both know that Shepard’s the type of person to wait forever for someone to have the same mark as him, and we both damn well know you do. He’s not going to go for her, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell him,” Ashley said to him multiple times, and each time he’d practically ran away with the excuse that he had to complete the repairs on that one faulty monitor that wasn’t even broken anymore. He’d simply stay tightening and untightening one of the screws in the side of the monitor, with the occasional taking apart of the monitor to see if there actually **was** anything wrong with it.

Besides, Shepard seemed to expect him to be there at all times, and if he didn’t see  him there when he needed him (which wasn’t very often, anyways), he’d go to Joker and get Joker to tell Kaidan over the loudspeakers that he needed to report to Shepard’s office immediately. So, he stayed there. It wasn’t like he’d had anything better to do anyways, and part of him hoped that if he stayed there, that Shepard would notice his wrist and he wouldn’t have to tell him himself.

That wasn’t the case. He never noticed his wrist. Didn't even glance in its direction, but it wasn't often he looked at Kaidan either, and even though that upset him deep down, he was relieved. No regulations would be broken, and even if Kaidan was hurt more and more, he was at least saving Shepard from being just as hurt as him when something happened to Kaidan.

Glancing over at Ashley, he doesn't even attempt to hide that he wasn't listening to a single thing she was telling him about her family, and sure, he feels bad, but he's got a lot on his plate right. "I should really go, Ash," Kaidan says, effectively cutting her off, and getting a dirty look in return for his transgressions. 

"And do what? LT, all you do is brood in front of that monitor and stay messing with that one screw in the side of it," she responds to him, and the look in her eyes tells him that she knows why he does it, and she's not afraid to out him to Shepard. He knows it's going to happen sooner or later, but he's hoping for later rather than sooner, if ever. He's never really been one to run away from his problems, but this time can be the exception. She pauses for the briefest of moments to look over Kaidan's shoulder, then breaks into a smile. He's confused but before he could turn around, she speaks. "Hey, Shep! Just talking about you with Alenko here. Top secret stuff." 

Kaidan freezes in place and the look on his face is one of horror before he hears from behind him, "...Right. Of course. Carry on, then. No revealing my secrets," and that hits Kaidan even harder than if he would have pushed the subject. Apparently, Ash notices, because the smile quickly changes to a wince and in a hurry, she attempts to explain.

"I just talk to him, Kaidan. He talks back."

"I'm aware, Ash. I have nothing to be upset about."

"LT..." 

He forces a smile. "I probably should go. Have a few things I need to do," and without a further word, he turns on his heel and makes for the elevator, not knowing why something that shouldn't have upset him did, but the fact that it happened bothering him quite a bit. His own soulmate (not that he knew) would only speak to him when necessary, but seemed to be close with the rest of the crew. It was his own fault, he knew that, and he also knew that he was being moody and overly emotional for absolutely no reason, but maybe he'd ought to change all three of those things. He'd start after the next mission they were going on that involved a certain planet named Virmire that barely anyone had heard of, and maybe he would tell Shepard about the mark eventually if he was able to fix the mess he'd caused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not taking the route I wanted.  
> Hm.  
> Well, next chapter is going to be amazing though.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be different than the rest. Hopefully, anyways. I've read enough sterek fics to know where this is going.  
> //I'm trying not to steal ideas and copy here so if something happens, it's unintentional and I can rewrite whatever it is because I understand.//


End file.
